Bread-making at The Central Moravian Church Managua, Nicaragua
Bread is the source of physical and spiritual life in the Central Moravian Church community. It is prepared all day on Saturday and sold for a small amount on Sunday after worship service which helps to support the needs of the church (electric, water, and gas).
There are a variety of breads to choose from—plain bread, bread stuffed with ground meat (pate), bread stuffed with banana, cheese, and bread mixed with jellied candy. I like to buy bread on Saturday afternoon after choir rehearsal when the bread is HOT out the oven….it is so good!
On Friday afternoon, the woman clean the kitchen, wash the tables, floors, pots and pans and make sure they have enough gas for the oven. Then Saturday morning “communion” begins with cooking, conversation, sharing baking recipes, joyful stories about life experiences from the past week and plenty of laughter. Women and sometimes men—young and old—come from other Moravian churches to learn how to make bread and other types of foods.
This is what Saturday bread-making looks like….
Preparing, mixing (hands only) and kneading the dough.
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Cooking / burning sugar to give some of the breads a brown color (no food coloring is used in this kitchen!)
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Cooking ground beef for pate (meat pies). A sample of a few of the cooked breads and treats – Pate, Johnny cakes, and buns.
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The Central Moravian Church in Managua serves Holy Communion once a month. It is usually on the first Sunday but sometimes it can be changed because of pre-exiting church celebration commitments. It is a separate order of service (that is similar to the Catholic Communion Mass) held after the main worship service. This service refreshes the soul.
Every Sunday after service, the community looks forward to purchasing bread for themselves and their families. Eating this bread, refreshes the body.
Jeanette Salley serves with the Moravian Church of Nicaragua. Her appointment is made possible by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund, Our Churches Wider Mission, and your special gifts.